9 Rare Photos of People Who the World’s Biggest Brands Are Named After

Some famous brands have been with us for more than 100 years. Despite this, not many people know who the first person was in the company, namely, the founder. They are the ones we should thank for their hard work.

Here at Bright Side, we enjoy fascinating history, and this compilation is just that.

1. Barbie

You might have had a Barbie doll at one point in your life. Not many people know the actual founder of Mattel, the company that makes the doll. Her name is Ruth Handler, who named the Barbie doll after her daughter, Barbara Millicent Roberts. She invented the doll after seeing her daughter and friends playing with different dolls.

2. Lipton

If you enjoy iced tea, then you’ve likely heard of the brand, Lipton. Its founder was Thomas Johnston Lipton, who had a tea business in 1887.

3. Mercedes

Mercedez-Benz was founded by Emil Jellinek and Karl Benz. The “Mercedes” part of the company was actually named after Jellinek’s daughter.

4. Nike Air Jordan

The well-known brand, Nike, was inspired by the young Michael Jordan to create a new line of shoes together. The line would sport the name “Air Jordan,” and in 1984, it would come up with its first pair, produced exclusively for the basketball player. It wasn’t all that easy to advertise them though.

At that time, there was a strict ban for basketball players to only wear white shoes on the court. However, Nike would pay the $5,000 fine every time Jordan wore them in a game. This worked, and the first $50,000 pairs sold out right away. From then on, the shoes kept coming.

Fun fact: the “jump man” logo that would appear a little later was actually based on a photo of Jordan performing a mid-air ballet move called a grand jeté.

5. Lacoste

René Lacoste was one of the biggest tennis players in the world. He was so big, in fact, that he was actually given the nickname, “the crocodile.” Lacoste enjoyed his new nickname so much, that he asked his friend to sew a crocodile on one of his white jackets. And with that, history was made.

6. Adidas

Starting off in his mother’s wash kitchen in Germany, Adi Dassler had a dream of providing athletes with the best equipment there is. So in 1924, he founded “Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik.”

The moment that made the brand skyrocket was in 1954 when Germany and Hungary went head-to-head and Germany won, wearing Dassler’s equipment. Thus, the brand was given so much attention, it became what we know it as today.

7. Aston Martin

Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by 2 friends with a passion for cars in a small workshop in London. Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford took their passion to the next level, making cars on their own.

The name Aston Martin that we know today has a fascinating history. Lionel Martin partook in the “Aston Clinton Hill Climb” race in one of the cars they had made and won. Thus, his family name, “Martin,” was put next to the name of the race he won, making a name for their brand.

8. Ben & Jerry’s

The famous ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry’s was founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. It started out in a small gas station they had renovated into a shop in Burlington, Vermont. The pair invested up to $12,000 to make their dream possible.

Slowly but surely, they started producing more and more ice cream and sending it to different restaurant chains. In 1981, due to its demand, the first dedicated shop opened in Shelburne, Vermont. And from there, the rest is history.

9. IKEA

Ingvar Kamprad was the founder of IKEA. He started out by selling matches, one of the most used items in households, at a low price. From there, he let his imagination roam free.

A fun fact about the name of the company is that it is an abbreviation: he took the initials of his name, the first letter of the farm he grew up on, Elmtaryd, and the first letter of the town he grew up in, Agunnaryd.

Are there any other founders we’ve missed? We are curious to hear some more!